Is the red-haired Amanda Bynes spotted in New York actually a red herring? On Tuesday -- one day before Bynes' 27th birthday -- a woman who appeared to be the "What I Like About You" actress was photographed walking around Manhattan with dyed magenta hair. (The woman in question had the former Nickelodeon star's cheek piercings, sunglasses, jewelry, and lips.)

Bynes made headlines for the edgy new look, but in a strange turn of events, she later claimed that she was not the person in the snapshots. "My hair is blonde, I've never been a redhead!" she said in a tweet that has since been deleted. "Somebody keeps posing as me! Check my photos on Twitter for up to date pictures!"

A second tweet (also since deleted) pointed to the alleged impostor's gray sweatshirt, black sweatpants, socks, and sandals as evidence of fraud. "Fake or real microdermals, same glasses! I don't own those clothes and I'm blonde! Haha!" she wrote.

The curious incident occurred on the same day Bynes was a no-show at a court hearing for her suspended license case. (She also faces separate charges in a hit-and-run.) It followed an outing last week in which the starlet walked around Times Square with a shirt over her head.